After the castle was destroyed in 1481 and 1511, the ruins were inherited in 1536 to Johan van den Bongard, hereditary chamberlain of Gulik and official of Grave. After him to his son Bernard I van den Bongard, whose son Bernard II van den Bongard rebuilt the castle between 1632 and 1642 in Dutch Renaissance style. After being used as a headquarters by the French for several months, it was burned down in 1673 by French troops commanded by Frans de Montmorency, Duke of Luxembourg.
The ruin was sold in 1675 to the Amsterdam merchant Joan Ortt. The castle was rebuilt and remained in the hands of the Ortt family until 1849. After a public auction it came into the hands of Jhr. W.J.A. from Romondt. Willem Hendricus de Heus bought land around Nijenrode at the same auction. The sale followed the death of the Lady Ortt van Nijenrode, born Schroijensteijn, on 29-11-1848. In April 1853 Nijenrode was bought through a public auction by Willem Hendricus de Heus, a Utrecht entrepreneur and Member of Parliament. On May 1, 1854, the castle was offered for rent in an advertisement in the Opregte Haarlemsche Courant. For De Heus it was a business investment. He lived in Utrecht on the Rijnkade and later in the summer months on 'de Pietersberg' in Oosterbeek and in the winter months first in Maria-Lust and later in villa Sophia's Hoeve, built at his factory in Apeldoorn. Although he did not live in the castle, he had it renovated in 1860 for a considerable amount in the neo-Tudor style. He died in 1872 and the castle passed on to his son Henri. The new owner was not interested in Nijenrode, because he both lived and worked in Apeldoorn. For several years he leased it to C.J. van der Meulen, who housed a boarding school there. After Henri de Heus died, the castle was sold by his heirs.